Details from the No Thoroughfare Trail in Colorado National Monument Part 1

One of the few hikes I was able to undertake over spring break was back to No Thoroughfare Canyon.  While there was still some ice back up at the first waterfall, most of the trail was fairly dry this time. The ice from the creek had melted as well, so for the first time I was able to see some of the small (and by small I mean maybe a couple feet) canyons through which the creek had started to erode.

Precambrian rocks cut by the creek.

 You may remember this little guy from the last post I had on this trail.

This time with scale!

Here it is in relation to the boulder, hiding in the corner.

I was pretty fascinated by it the first time around, so it was mostly my goal this hike to find him again.  Turns out, it wasn't as far up the trail as I had remembered. It's on a boulder just past the first pool the creek forms, maybe a mile or so in from the trailhead.  I took a few more pictures to bring in to my Geology teacher and continued up the trail.

Well, I found quite a few more of these little inclusions in the Precambrian rocks.

Relatively large inclusion with chapstick for scale because I forgot the swiss army knife I usually carry.

Partially eroded inclusion. you can see the deep red by the rusting of iron rich minerals.

Almost fully eroded inclusion.

After seeing several of these along the hike, I had come to the hypothesis that these were older, possibly sedimentary rocks (due to the fact that they are more easily eroded than the surrounding rock) from before the igneous and metamorphic Precambrian rocks formed.  I brought this theory, along with a picture to my geology teacher last week, and he said there were indeed some sandstones and limestones (both sedimentary rocks) that had been included in the Precambrians. 

Huzzah! I'm learning!

Importance Of Geology

Spring break was busier than I had anticipated.  My Calculus class is online, and while it starts a week later than on-campus classes, the drawback is that there is no spring break.  So I had a unit to work on over the past week for that class. I did get out on a couple good hikes, however I am still wading through the photos I took so the posts don't end up sounding like a jumble of rocks at the end of a rock slide, jagged and poorly sorted.

So why am I posting now you say?  Well, the other big school project that has dominated my spring break is a persuasive speech I have to give for my speech class Thursday. Almost a month ago, I had already decided to show people the importance of studying Geology and how it effects everyday lives.  I had a lot of vague categories in mind to talk about and had started jotting down notes for it when the earthquake hit Japan over a week ago.  So here is the introduction to my modified speech.

1. Before Japan was devistated last week by a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake, I was trying to narrow down all the reasons why I believe the study of Geology is important to humanity.
2. We utalize it intuitivly when we head to the outdoors for recreation. What conditions are out there? Should I bring something with 4x4 capabilities? Should I climb to higher ground from a canyon if it starts raining? Even winter sports like Skiing and Snowboarding which are a large part of Colorado's economy would not be possible here if the Mountains hadn't begun to lift out of the seaway that covered Colorado for much of it's Geologic Past.
3. Speaking of economic impacts, where would Colorado be without it's natural resources. Colorado has been among the top producers of gold/silver/uranium and various other minerals in the United States throughout it's history. Construction materials such as gypsum and aggregate to salt for food to clay for pottery can all be found lurking somewhere in Colorado. Yule Marble, which is Colorado's state rock, was used in the construction of the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the unknown soldier. The largest resource industry that impacts Colorado can be seen even a few miles from where we stand. Colorado's oil production over time ranks eleventh in the nation and natural gas ranks fifth.
4. All of these factors are great reasons why Geology is important, but after last week, one of the strongest factors emerged. The greatest impacts on our lives comes from the force of which our Earth is capable. In one moment, lives, economies and entire nations can be changed. Our key to minimizing this devistation, lies in the science of Geology.

 So there you go.  The rest of the speech should be fully written in a few days.  There is no way to prevent events such as the Sendai or the Haitian earthquake that hit last year, so the speech focuses on the ways that Geology can help lessen the impacts of such disasters.  There is a lot of information coming out of the Earthquakes, so if you are looking for some good links about the geology of the earthquake in Japan (and because I am nowhere near qualified yet to make these observations on my own.) here is a list of some of the best posts I have found out there.

The Tsunami's Ripple Effect
Several posts on the earthquake, though some a little detailed
Secondary Effects of Earthquakes
Movement of GPS ground units after the Earthquake
This blog has posts covering just about everything you might want to know.

Brief Intermission

This is midterms week.  The dreaded week before spring break. I am already working on a speech concerning why should you care about geology, so I'm sure that will turn into a post over spring break. I'm also hopeing the weather will cooperate, and I can fill your eyes with the beauty that is Western Colorado. For now, however, I will be short and sweet, with some "Oooh and Aaaah" links of pictures from various sources I try to read with some regularity. 

I follow a lot of geology and astronomy pages on twitter.  They provide many spectacular photos of which I probably would never see.
This is a photo taken from the International Space Station as the Shuttle Discovery detaches for it's journey home.
This is a photo of the Sun from Earth using a filter that only accepts a wavelength of light emitted by the element Hydrogen.
This (if you scroll down a bit) is a photo of a seriously huge storm on Saturn.
This is a photo taken form the International Space Station while two of the astronauts are on a space walk.

Sorry for the short post, see you after midterms!